Flipping a Switch
by Dracoisalooker76
Summary: Songfic. Matt Bolton helps his grandmother rememember her younger years as her memory is deteriorating from Alzheimer's. Set to the song, Ellsworth, by Rascal Flatts.


**Well, I was listening to my Rascal Flatts CD while I was working on the next chapter of Hello, It's Zeke Again, and I had to write this! I was inspired. It's a great song, so I hope the story came out okay. **

**Also, I have a link to the song in my profile. I don't know what the video is about, but this is the only place on YouTube I could find the song, so...what to do? Anyway, just listen to the song and don't look at the pictures if you want...

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**Flipping a Switch**

_**Grandma burned the biscuits  
Nearly took the house down with it  
Now she's in assisted livin'  
We all knew that day would come  
We knew she was too gone to drive  
The day she parked on I-65  
Found her on the shoulder cryin'  
She didn't know where she was **_

It's like her mind just quit  
Oh, but bring up Grandpa  
It's like someone flipped a switch

A front porch light and a blue De Soto  
A couple of straws and a Coca-Cola  
You can see it all goin' down  
A handsome boy in army green  
A tear on his face  
Down on a knee, shaky voice, a diamond ring  
She'll put you in that town  
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today  
But just ask her 'bout Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

"Hi Gram," twenty-year-old Matt Bolton said walking into his grandmother's room. She was getting up there in age and had Alzheimer's. She wasn't very bad yet, but Matt knew she was going to get worse. He was the oldest of the Bolton grandchildren. In fact, he was the only grandchild that actually remembered their grandfather fully.

"Troy? Is that you?" came a voice from the couch. Matt shook his head. She always though he was his grandfather. Maybe that was because they looked similar.

"No, Gram, it's me. Remember? Matt," he told her, placing a hand on her arm.

She shook her head and blinked her eyes once. "Oh, yes. Matt, sorry about that."

"It's okay," Matt said softly.

"How are your sisters?" she asked him. Matt told her they were good and that they'd come visit later. "You've grown up so much," she said, placing a hand on his cheek. "You look so like your grandfather."

"How about you tell me more about him, Gram," he said. "I know you want to."

Her eyes became bright. "Alright. Let me think of a good one..."

"_Troy!" Gabriella yelled, tears filling her eyes. "Don't go."_

"_Gabriella, one more hug, please? For me?" he said, his blue eyes shining with tears. He wiped her tears with his thumb. "Hey, don't cry."_

"_How can I not," Gabriella asked, touching the name tag on his army uniform. "You're leaving for a whole year and I don't know when I'll see you alive again."_

"_Hey!" Troy said. "You think I'll get myself blown up before I see this pretty face again! No, I'm coming back to see you, and just to make sure," he dropped to one knee, "will you marry me when I get back?"_

_Gabriella nodded, and looked at the diamond. "Gabriella, do you think I'd spend all that money with the intent on dying?" Troy joked as he placed the ring on her finger._

"_Bolton!" Chad yelled from a pick up. "Hurry up! You were never this slow in high school!"_

_Gabriella hugged Troy tightly. "Come back to me," she whispered in his ear._

_Troy kissed her lightly before letting go and running toward the truck. "You're stuck with me now Gabs!" he yelled as the truck drove off._

_  
**She takes out his medals  
A cigar box of letters  
Sits and scatters pictures  
Black and whites of days gone by **_

We started losin' her when she lost him  
But to hear her carry on  
You'd swear she's seventeen again

Football games and leaves a cracklin'  
Walkin' her home in his letter jacket  
You can see it all goin' down  
A perfect night on a front porch glider  
Sayin' goodnight for the next three hours  
Her tired eyes go wide and bright  
When she talks about that town  
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today  
But just ask her 'bout Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

"So, he came back to you like he promised," Matt concluded.

"Yes, he did," Gabriella said staring at the picture she had on the wall. It was of her and Troy at graduation. "You know, he loved you kids more than anything."

"Except you," Matt said.

"_So, Gabriella, how was the game. Really. Was it as bad as my dad said it was?"_

"_It depends," Gabriella said, leaning into Troy. "How bad your dad say it was?"_

"_He said we played like my little cousin, he's in kindergarten," Troy said sheepishly._

_Gabriella shook her head and looked up at the stars. "It wasn't that bad. You at least played like first graders."_

"_Thanks," Troy said sarcastically, leaning against her balcony. _

"_Hey, the truth hurts sometimes Troy. Get used to it," she said with a smile. _

"_Get used to it?" Troy joked. "We just lost a major game and you're telling me to 'get used to it?' What kind of girlfriend are you?" he asked her with a smirk._

"_Just shut up and kiss me."_

_Troy's eyebrows raised. "You want to kiss a loser?" he asked playfully before leaning down and breaking the space between them. Suddenly Troy pulled away and grabbed his cellphone from his pocket. "Oh, damn it, Dad," he muttered._

"_What?"_

_He shook his head and pushed the phone his pocket. "Just Dad. He's mad, I can tell."_

"_You should go then. The longer you're out, the more mad he'll be when you get home."_

"_Unless, he's asleep when I get there," Troy said, wrapping his arms around Gabriella's tiny waist. "Don't make me go!" he whined._

"_You sound like you don't want to go on a roller coaster," Gabriella laughed._

_Troy shrugged. "Dad's kind of like a roller coaster. He goes from being happy to mad to furious in two seconds. It's scarier than, like, The Hulk."_

"_You have to face your fears, Troy," Gabriella joked._

_Sighing, Troy kissed her before climbing over the side of the balcony and down the tree. "Gabs, will you cry at my funeral?" Troy said, laughing slightly._

"_Definitely."_

_Troy turned around and walked out of the gate in Gabriella's backyard. No more than a minute after Troy left, Gabriella's phone started ringing. She grabbed it and saw Troy's face on the caller id. "What are you doing?" she asked._

"_I figure, why dread my doom when I can talk to you, Gabs."_

_Gabriella laughed. "You don't know how to say goodbye to me, that's your problem," she told him._

"_Problem, who said I had a problem," Troy's voice said though the phone. "Was it Chad?" he asked joking. "I'll have to kill him for telling you my secrets."_

"_Goodnight Mister Bolton."_

_She could almost hear Troy shaking his head. "Goodnight Miss Montez."_

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While the world is fading all around her  
Sharing a sundae at the counter  
He's goin on and on about her  
Bet she's right there right now

"How's Gram?"

Matt looked up at his father as he walked into the house and shrugged. "She thought I was Grandpa again. Other than that, she was okay. She remembered the girls and she told me some stories."

"She loves them stories," Kyle Bolton said. "She loves telling them. I remember when I was little, every night she'd tell me that story about how she and your grandfather met. Knew it by heart! 'Your daddy and I...' If there really is a heaven, they'll be there together."

"I bet she's thinking about him."

"Matt, she's always thinking about him."

_**  
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today  
But just ask her about Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948

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**So, how was it? Was it okay?**

**I urge you to listen to the song. It's called Ellsworth by Rascal Flatts. It's very good, especially if you like country, even if you don't like country it's still okay.**

**Review!**


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